the fire fall saga, rise of the Phoenix, book one the Phoenix burns
by david.skaggs.543
Summary: Carter Flayde is a survivor of the great nuclear war, and a man on the run. He is offered a job that might get his enemies off his tail, but this is no ordinary mission. It's a rescue mission that will take him deep into the heart of the most powerful gang in the wasteland, in a trip that will force him to face his past, and his future...
1. chapter 1 Carter Flayde

this story is based off of the a text mmorpg game called Dawn 2055, a post-nuclear apocalyptic based text game. many character names and gang names are taken from this game.

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When fire falls, book one. The Phoenix burns.

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Chapter one.

Carter Flayde

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Burning.

Everything burning.

Amidst the flames I can hear her voice.

"DAADDDDYYYYY!"

I try to go to her, but the heat is too intense. I turn and see my wife. She's just close enough that I can reach her. But to do so would be to sacrifice my own daughter. Indecision freezes me, the spell broken only by my wife's hoarse plea...

"Carter...get...Chrystal..."

I turn to go to my daughter, but a resounding CRACK causes me to turn back to my wife.

Just in time for the roof to collapse.

They scream as they are crushed under the weight of the roof.

"I'm sorry." I whisper into the crushing darkness.

And all sense ceases.

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"NOOO !" I yelled as I bolted out of bed, my heart pounding, sweat running down my face. I could still hear the dying cries of my family. I rose from my bed, muscles aching, body drenched in sweat. Outside, it was silent, no birds, no kids playing in the street, just pure silence, broken only by the occassional gun shot. Just another reminder of the hell I now live in. It's been two years since the war turned all of California, and possibly the world, into a nuclear wasteland, and already, people have managed to adjust their lives. every day was a fight for survival. Every day had survivors scrambling for the scant resources. It wasn't uncommon to find a body in an alley, or a bedroom, or even out in the middle of the street, looted for it's valubles, sometimes even buck naked, as clothes, even, were valuable in these tough, dangerous times. very few people lasted long here, even when they had a gang, a group of people, practically family. It wad even harder to survive on your own. Unless, of course, you were like me. I'd been surviving in california ever since this place went nuclear. I never stayed in one spot, I was always on the move. I rarely ever interacted with anybody, accept when I beat the occassional mugger who foolishly tried to attack me. (And yes, I did take the spoils.) My activities gained the attention of the local gang, wasteland mafia, and they tried to rucruit me. I respectfully turned them down, and the next thing I knew, I was on the run, yet again, wanted by another powerful warlord. This was my life. Don't settle. Don't make friends, otherwise it'll just cause trouble.

I went to the sink, and tried the tap, wanting desparately to drown last nights images, as though I could wash them away. As luck would have it, the water was no longer working. No suprise there. I turned, put on a jacket over my bullet proof vest, pick up my 9 milimeter pistol, and walked out the door. I stepped into the street, careful to avoid the pile of crap on the side walk, and headed for the market. I had twenty bottle caps rattling around in my pocket, (who's nut job idea was it, any way, to use bottle caps as money?)and I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into some fresh meat. That, at least, I knew I could look forward to. The market was less crowded than ussual, and I spotted an old aquaintence of my, Billy Ryan, standing in the shadows. Billy was a hard man, with a partial gotee, and thinning hair, he looked like the kind of guy you would see on the street corner, the guy your parents always told you to stay away from. He saw me and motioned for me to come over. I approached him with slight caution. Billy and I weren't enemies, we just weren't friends, either. As I approached, I noticed his left hand was bandaged, blood slowly seeping through. "Get in a fight recently, Billy?" I inquired, keeping a respectful distance. "What'd you do, miss the guys face and hit a wall?" Billy ignored my taunting as he took a swig from the mug in his good hand. He held the mug out, offering me some of what-ever-it-was and I declined.

"Carter," he began in his slight southern drawl. "I'm not going to waste time beating around the bush. How would you like a little extra money?"

"How much money?" I asked him.

"Let's just say more than enough to get Wasteland Mafia off your tail."

Now I was very interested. "What's the job?"

"Last night, three armed men broke into my house and began looting. I came out to stop them, but they got away, taking my daughter with them. I want you to find them. Get my daughter back, kill the bastards who took her. If you get her back alive, the money's yours." A rescue operation. I've been asked a few times in my life to help rescue survivors, weather it was a poor farm kid who just got lost, or some rich pompous bilionaire who's son was abducted for ransom. And I always turned them down. This time was no different.

"Billy, you know I don't do rescue missions."

I looked at him and saw, not the usual fire and determination that was usually in his eyes, but something else. He had the look of a man who had lost something so precious to him that he had decided to just give up all hope.

"Carter, please."

Now this wasnt like Billy. He was a man who never begged for anything, and here he was, begging me to save his daughter.

I sighed. "Why me?"

"Because,"he took another drink. "You're the only one I trust. You can di things other people wouldn't even attempt. You went against the wasteland mafia, for God's sake, and you're still alive. Carter, please."

Suddenly, I wasn't seeing Billy. I saw Crystal, my daughter. Last night's nightmare returned to me in a flash, and I realized there was no way I could say no.

Once again, he offered me his drink. This time, I took it.

"I'm in"

To be continued...

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Please let me know what you think. I appreciate honest, creative criticism.


	2. Chapter 2 details

Chapter 2

Details

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It only took me about a month after the attacks to find my place in this trash heap. Hired assassin, mercenary, body guard, anything that had to do with killing, I was in. Except, as I've said before, rescues. This would be the first time I've ever attempted something this insane.

Billy and I went to a bar to chat about my little mission. And I was still a little bit curious as to how much money this would make me.

"Seriously, Bill, how much are we talking about here," I asked for the seventh time in the past twelve minutes. "Just give me a ball park figure."

"I told you, I'll tell you when it comes time to hand it over."

I didn't like this. This wasn't how I operated. Not telling me what he's going to give me would put him in a position to short change me. And I wasn't interested in being short changed. If he was going to play secret agent, he had better have a pretty damn good reason. And I told him so.

"Fine, you know what, if I you're going to keep secrets from me, I'll just be on my way." Iv git up to leave.

"wait, wait, wait, okay," Billy began. "I haven't been completely honest with you. The truth is, my daughter wasn't kidnapped by thieves. The people who took my daughter did so with a purpose. The reason I can't tell you how much yet is because… well… I don't really know how much." He must have read my dumbfounded expression, because he quickly attempted to recover. "Now, don't worry, I'll have the money…"

"And you expect me to trust you now? After what you pulled on me three years ago?"

"This is different, though!" He pleaded.

Once again I got up to walk away. "Yeah well, you'll have to find someone else to play the fool, because I'm not doing this for phantom money. Look," I reached down and picked a bottle cap off the floor. "see? I'm already making more money than you would have given me. Isn't that right?"

He cast his eyes to the floor. "I told you I'd have the money for you…"

"Yeah and why should I trust you?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he removed a small piece of paper. It was a contract. A contract for a man named Justin Corsara. A man I've heard of plenty of times.

Justin was once the leader of a well known and well respected gang. They prospered for about a year, until Justin started going crazy. He killed off his second in command and then ordered most of his troops on a suicide mission against Great Eden. No one survived and I heard that mister Corsara profited big time from their deaths. Don't know how, but, you know how rumors work.

This man was a killer. His gang, Nuclear Raiders, had conquered more settlements than the gang Elite Defense Force owns. He was a dangerous man, and if anyone could kill this guy, it was Billy.

"What did he do?" I asked.

"Pissed off some gang, Merchants what-ever-their-name-is. He attacked a caravan of theirs for no other reason than it was there. Didn't loot it, didn't salvage any of the metals, just burned it all."

This was a real no-no in this world. It's one thing to attack a convoy for the resources, it's another thing entirely to just leave everything, or worse, destroy it. In a time when everyone is just trying to scrape by with what few resources they had, the worst sin in the people's eyes is to waste precious resources for no other reason than to say "screw you."

"Here's the funny thing," Billy continued. "The convoy belonged to Nuclear's only remaining ally, and a strong one, at that."

"Just goes to show you how insane this guy is." I marveled. "What are they offering, anyway?"

"there's no real reward offer. It just says they want him dead."

I took a look at Billy.

"That's a little suspicious."

"I spoke with the gang that put up the reward." He said. "They promised an entire city if I could take him down. And what ever else I asked for."

"And this has to do with me how?"

Billy sat back, propping his feet up on the bar. The bar tender gave him a dirty look and walked away. "The people who took my daughter, they work for Justin." Billy sat up leaning in closer. "this will be a joint operation. You lead me to Justin, I'll take him down. Meanwhile, you get my daughter, and take her to the rondevous point. We'll meet up there and head back to the city."

"How much will I get?"

"All of it." I stared at him, shocked. "I just want my daughter back." He said.

To be continued..


	3. Chapter 3, meet the mercs

Chapter 3

Meet the mercs

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She's stands on the beach, golden hair waving in the breeze.

"Babe, come here."

I approach to find that she's holding a small cats claw sea shell.

"Isn't it lovely? Crystal would love it. It would be perfect for her collection, wouldn't it?"

I try to agree, but I can't speak. All I feel is a strange anger. Why am I so angry? My rage increases until it seems that the horizon is lighting up with the light of a thousand suns.

Only it actually is.

In the distance rises a huge, bright mushroom cloud. I look to my wife, and am shocked to see her burning.

"Carter!" She pleads. "Help!"

And suddenly my anger is gone replaced with only one to desire, to save my wife.

I go to push her into the waves, to quench the fire that is slowly burning her away, but the ocean has dried up. Funny, there aren't any fish.

I look to my wife.

She's not there.

In her pace is a skeleton, still standing, still burning.

"Selena?" I whisper, finding my voice.

Then she speaks.

"Carter. I love you."

And she crumbles away to ash as the sky burns.

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I woke up to find myself looking into the face of a stranger.

"Mornin, sleeping beauty!" he said with a crazy grin on his face.

Instantly, my fighter's instincts kicked in. I rolled off the bed, simultaneously reaching under my mattress to pull out my nine millimeter. I rolled, pointing the weapon at the intruder as Billy stepped out of the kitchen.

"Relax, Rambo, he's a friend." Billy said in his usual calm voice. "Put that gun down, it's making Jonny nervous."

I slowly lowered the weapon, never taking my eyes off the man.

"Jonny, huh? That's your name?" I said. I turned to Billy. "What the hell is he doing here?" I looked around. "What am I doing here? How did we get here? We were at the bar, and…"

Billy pulled my enhanced battle rifle from the shelf, admiring it. "You were talking smack to the bar tender's daughter. He came around the bar and punched your lights out."

Funny, I didn't remember any of this.

"Hey, Billy," a voice came from the kitchen. "I think you're out of beer." The voice's owner came out of the kitchen. He was 5 feet tall, with rumpled black hair and a look on his face that said "I don't care if you are better than me, I'll still kick your ass." I knew his type. Full time Mercenaries. "Oh." He said as he spotted me. "I see 'drunk-and-happys' awake."

"Did you drink all my beer?" I asked, trying desparetely to keep my voice even, without much success."

"Your beer? I thought this was Bills house."

Another man came out of the storage room. "Dude, this guy has the best toys! Look!"

He said as he pulled out my grenade launcher. "I'm not sure, but I think this is military grade weaponry." He turned to me, a manic grin on his face. "You sure get around."

"What is going on here?" I asked, though no one heard me.

"You sure that's military grade?" Jonny asked, as he tried to take the grenade launcher. "Here, Kyle, let me see it."

"Give me a second!"

"Let me see it…

Billy face palmed as the two professional mercenaries fought over the weapon. Finally, I'd had enough. I pulled out my pistol, and fired three times in the air. That shut everyone up. Even the annoying dog across the street shut it.

Now that I had everyones attention, I decided to get things straightened out.

"Now, Billy, I'm going to ask you this as nicely as possible. WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE, and, WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN MY HOUSE!?"

Billy stood up and began introductions. "You've already met Jonny. He's an ex marine, specializes in infiltration and sabotage." He motioned to beer boy. "This here is Domonik. He's a demolitionist, and explosives expert. And this," he said approaching the guy who had my rocket launcher. "This is Kyle. He's the weapons specialist."I knew exactly where this was going. "They're going to be working with us."

"No." I said with conviction. "No, no, no. Out of the question."

"Carter…"

"They're mercenaries, Billy, Jarheads."

"Damn right we're mercenaries." Jonny said. "Best mercs out there." He turned to Kyle. "Now let me see that." He began trying to take the gun away from Kyle and they started fighting again.

"Okay, THAT'S ENOUGH!" I stepped in and pulled the gun away from both of them. "You mercenaries are all alike. Can't keep your hands still or your pants on! You get all worked up over the smallest, most insignificant of weapons." I turned back to Billy. "There is no way I am working with a bunch of trigger happy morons!"

Jonny approached me with his pistol out. "I don't know what you just said," he said, slurring his words, as if mocking me. "But I don't think I like it very…" He cried out in surprise as I grabbed his gun hand and twisted, bending it back painfully. "Ow, ow, ow! Okay, I get it, I get it!" I let him go and he stumbled back, rubbing his wrist. "Jesus Christ!"

"Alright, enough already." Billy grumbled. He looked at me. "Carter, they may be Immature for a bunch of mercenaries, but they take what they do seriously, and no one does it better. Besides, I've got the means to keep them under control."

"What means?" I asked.

The door opened, and a tall, thin woman stepped in."Alright, Bill." She said. "The truck's all ready to go. Whenever you're ready." She had long black hair that draped all the way down and around her shoulders, with big, bright blue eyes that you couldn't help but notice. She was wearing a tight, form fitting shirt and pants that left little to the imagination. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

I found myself staring, fascinated.

"Carter." Billy began. "This is Christine. She's our medic. And this," he continued as a big burly black man came through. "This is Tom. He's Christine's body guard."

"Something I always said I didn't need." Christine said in an almost whiney voice. "You don't have to be so protective of me."

"Actually, yes I do. She's my sister, you see." Billy told me.

"Hey," Tom said in a deep, sonorous voice. "how much ammo do you have for that thing?"

I realized he was motioning to my pistol. "Oh, I don't know, maybe, four clips."

Tom shook his head. "Nowhere near enough. Here." He reached into his bag and pulled out a bunch of pistol clips. He handed them to me saying, "I have plenty more where those came from. Plus ammo for all your other guns. You can put them in here, if you want."

"Tom's also in charge of inventory. He's the only one strong enough to carry all the supplies we need." Billy told me.

"Cool." I said.

Billy turned to his mercenaries. "Okay, now listen up. When we're out there, Carter's word is law. You do as he says, or you don't get paid. Got it?" The others agreed to these terms, albeit, with some reluctance. "Now, let's move out."

I turned to Billy. "I thought you said I'd be getting it all."

"And you will. I'm paying them out of my own pocket."

Before I could step out the door, a hand came out and stopped me. It was Christine.

"You gonna find my neice?" She asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "and I'm going to kill the bastards who took her. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."

"It's not Jennifer I'm worried about. It's Billy. He hasn't been sleeping at all for the past three days. Watch out for him, please."

There was no way I could look into those beautiful, pleading eyes and say no.

"Yeah, of course."

"Good." She said. I turned to walk down the steps, but was stopped again, this time I was in a head lock. "And just in case you were thinking of trying to make a move on me, forget it. I will kill you, if my brother doesn't get to you first."

"I wasn't…"

"Don't play innocent with me. I saw the way you were looking at me. Just don't press your luck." She let me go then stormed past, leaving me to rub my throat as she climbed into the truck.

"Carter!" Billy called. "Let's go!"

After a quick look around, I descended the stairs, climbing into the bed of the truck.

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to be continued...


	4. chapter 4 dangerous territory

Chapter 4

Dangerous territory

We stopped at the city limits where a nice, blue Mercedes was waiting. I didn't even know these cars still existed, let alone that one would be in this good of condition.

We got out of the truck.

"Jonny, Kyle, you take the Mercedes." Billy commanded.

"Wait," I asked. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"I have a contact waiting for me in New Hope." Billy explained. "He knows a little bit about Justin, can give us information that can help."

New Hope. That was a danger zone, at least for me. New hope was crawling with Wasteland Mafia recruiters. If they found out I was there…

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked.

"What's the matter, tough guy?" Jonny taunted. "Scared of all the little newbie's? Afraid one of them is going to get a little rough?"

I ignored Jonny, knowing that if I gave in to his idiocy, I'd be giving him exactly what he wanted.

"Billy, you know that place will be infested with recruiters from Wasteland Mafia, and in case you haven't forgotten, I'm still a wanted man."

Billy sighed. "Yes, Carter, I know, I haven't forgotten. But this is the only place my contact can meet us. It's the safest place for any of us, and the last place Wasteland Mafia would expect you to show up."

I could see that he had a point. Why would I even think of showing up at a place where there would be nothing but newbie's who didn't know me, or even care, a place where the only powerful people would be the ones that wanted me dead. It was ridiculous, and it was that fact that made it prefect, that they wouldn't be expecting me.

But only if I showed up alone, and I pointed this out to Billy.

"You think I haven't taken this into account? You think I didn't realize that it would be unwise to show up without attracting unwarranted attention? Well I have, Carter, I'm not a fool. Why do you think I' having us take two separate vehicles. We're going to arrive at different intervals, at different locations, then meet up at the rendezvous point, the bar. Come to think of it, Domonik, you go with Kyle and Jonny."

"Aw come on!" Domonik whined like a three year old. "You guys are going to get there first, I wanna get a little fun in before working." He looked over at Christine and winked. Christine ignored him.

"Dom, that's an order." Billy said calmly.

"Really? I thought he was in charge." Domonik smugly motioned to me.

"Dom," I repeated in Billy's same calm tone. "That's an order."

Domonik shot me a dangerous look and I returned the glare. Unfortunately for him, no one could stare me down. Domonik growled and got in the care with the other mercenaries. I could see Christine trying, unsuccessfully, to hide a smile.

"Come on," Jonny said. "We got the fun ride. They got the beat up old piece of crap they call a truck." They sped away, showing off as they rounded the corner on the dusty road.

Someone sighed next to me. I turned to see Christine, her hands on her hips. "They are so childish, it's not even funny. At least Tom has a sense of decency."

"Yeah, well, you can't expect everyone to be perfect. Especially mercenaries." I turned to Tom. "No offense."

"No problem." He responded. "I'm not even a merc anyway. I owe a debt to Christine, here, and I plan to pay it by keeping her alive."

"Well," Billy said, cutting of my next question. "We gotta get rolling. We have to get to New Hope before those morons do. They could ruin the whole operation, if left unchecked.

We all got back in the truck, this time with Christine at the wheel, and Billy riding shotgun.

The ride to New Hope was relatively boring and uneventful. No one talked for most of the way, and the silence was almost deafening.

"So," I said, trying to break the silence. "Who is this guy we're meeting?"

"He's a friend of mine, we go way back." Billy responded shortly.

They way he said friend told me there was a little bad blood between them.

"Do you trust him?" I asked.

"Of course not. But he's all we have."

After that, we continued on in silence.

After a few minutes, I could see the gates of New Hope. The first leg of a dangerous journey.

Hopefully, the city name was a sign, a good omen.

Because, right now, I needed all the hope I could get.


	5. Chapter 5 bar fight

Chapter 5

Bar fight.

We passed through the gates uneventfully. The guards didn't even spare us a glance.

"So far, so good." Billy sighed, nervously.

"Don't jinx us, Bill." Christine commented as we rounded the corner.

We approached a small, rundown building that appeared as though it had been standing there since the revolution. One soft breeze could blow it over any second.

"We're here." Billy said climbing out of the truck.

"Wait," I protested. "This is the bar?"

"Yep, pretty little thing, isn't she."

Christine walked past, following her brother. "Just wait until you get inside."

I turned to Tom. "You coming?"

Tom shook his head. "I'm keeping an eye on the truck. You go on ahead." I turned and entered the bar.

Once inside it felt like the world had gone dark. It took me several moments to adjust to the lighting, of which there wasn't much. Billy motioned for me to come join him and Christine at a small table in a corner. Billy sat facing the door, playing look out. Off in another corner, a rough looking man was drinking like there was no tomorrow, completely oblivious to the brawl taking place behind him. At the bar three women were flirting with a man who looked like he was about to pass out.

And the fumes. God, I was being buzzed just breathing..

I turned to Billy. "So, when are we supposed to meet this contact of yours?"

"Soon." Billy replied.

"How soon?" I asked. "Five minutes, ten minutes?"

"Not that soon."

I sat back, exasperated. I felt so jittery, I was ready to join in on the fight, which by now had drawn a small fan club. But at the same time, I knew that the last thing I should do was draw attention to myself. So I did what any reasonable man in enemy territory would do.

I ordered a shot.

"Are you sure you should be drinking right now?" Christine asked as the waitress brought my drink. "You get drunk and you could blow the whole mission."

I gave her my best trashed expression and said "And who made you my mommy?"

She rolled her eyes just as the sound of shattering glass exploded from the fight. The oblivious man sitting near the fight was suddenly not so oblivious. He rose, red faced and bellowed, "The next bottle that ends up over here is going to wind up shoved up someones ass!" At this, the waitress who was bringing his next drink stopped in her tracks, turned, and was about to walk away when the man said "Where the hell do you think you're going with my drink?" She turned, obviously terrified, and handed the man a beer. He took it and she hurried away.

"Stupid asshole." Christine commented.

"Who is he anyway?" I asked.

Billy answered. "That's Jordan. Some people call him the snake. He used to be the head recruiter for Wasteland Mafia in this sector, until they replaced him. Now, he's the guy they go to when they want someone dead. Like you."

I turned to look at him again, a sense a uneasiness settling over me.

"Great," I said. "So we're waiting right under the nose of one of their highest ranking officers?"

"Just don't draw any attention to us." Billy said calmly.

Right on cue, Jonny came barging into the bar and made a beeline for our table.

"Billy!" He said, panting. "Outside-Mafia-contact-cover blown. We need to...get out now."

I looked around and noticed how several of the patrons were looking at us. Billy didn't seem to notice.

"Easy, boy," He said. "Slow down and tell us what happened."

Jonny opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, three armed men entered the bar.

"Okay, nobody move!" The leader said. "We have intel that a Carter Flayde is currently hiding here. Anybody seen him?" Naturally, no one responded. "No? That's quite alright. We have all the time in the world." He motioned to one of his lackeys. "Secure the exits."

"Already done, sir."

The leader nodded. "Well, I guess it's time for an ID check. Cooperate and nobody gets hurt." He grinned wickedly. "Unless, of course, you're mister Flayde." They began to fan out.

This was bad. With guards at the exits, there was no way out. Luckily, I've been known for getting out of tough situations. What we needed was a distraction.

I picked up a bottle off the tray of a passing waitress and chucked it, hard as I could, at Jordan. It shattered against the back of his head.

He bolted up from his seat. "THAT'S IT!" He turned grabbed one of the participants of the fight and threw him across the bar. Naturally, he landed on another patron who turned and punched the guy next to him. Within seconds, the whole bar was fighting and the four of us slipped out in the middle of the chaos.

Once outside, we hurried to the truck, as Jonny praised me for my genius.

"Did you ever play football 'cause that was an amazing throw!" He said enthusiastically.

"Yes, well," Billy said. "Show's over, we need to get out of here, now!"

Christine climbed in. "What about our contact?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Jonny replied. "He's dead! Our cover's been blown! We need to get out of here NOW!"

Billy swerved into an ally. "You didn't tell us anything! You were stuttering, incoherent. Now explain it again from the top!"

And so Jonny told of how the second they arrived at the gates, they were attacked. He theorized that somebody in the group had betrayed us, but he wasn't sure who.

"Dom and Kyle are waiting for us on the east side of the city." Jonny informed us. "If we move now, we can make it."

"Okay hold on." Billy floored it, speeding out the other end of the alley. "I was afraid this would happen. So I have a backup plan. I have another contact in Great Eden."

"Why do I have a feeling this is a bad idea?" I complained.

"Great Eden is infested with. Nuclear raider spies. They may not own the city, but, by all rights, they control it."

I sighed. "So, bad idea, but we're going anyway."

Billy smile at me. "Just like old times, huh buddy?"

I sighed. This mission just kept getting better and better.

to be continued...


	6. Chapter 6, an old enemy

Chapter 6.

An old enemy

It never failed. Every time I think I've gotten away, something has to happen to delay me. In this case, a flat tire.

"Crap." Billy muttered as several guards turned toward the truck.

It was too late. The guards saw our truck and approached. i had to think fast. Any second now, I knew, I'd be in the hands of wasteland mafia recruiters, and soon after, I'd find a revolver pressed against my head.

I opened the left passenger door, which was facing away from the guards, and slipped into an alley. I knew that if those guards found my friends with me, they'd all be dead.

I ducked into an abandoned building, wondering how Billy would react when he found out I wasn't there.

As I made for the back door, I heard a guard outside saying, "I swear I saw someone in the back. search the area."

I cursed under my breath and sprinted out of the building and onto the street. As expected, there were very few people out. In these days, you rarely left home unless it was an emergency. Unfortunately, as I turned a corner, I was spotted by some guards.

"Hey! You there! Stop!"

Yeah. Right.

I ducked into an alley, hoping to lose the pursuers. No dice. It was a dead end.

"Crap." I turned to find the only exit blocked by a familiar face, someone I haven't seen in a while.

My old "friend" Bradly Thomson.

And he had a double barreled shotgun leveled at my chest.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my old pal Carter." Bradly droned. "Long time no see, buddy. How you been?"

"Bradly. I thought you'd be dead in a gutter by now, all the debt you owe."

"I'm about to pay it all off today. Mafia's got a nice price on your head."

I scoffed. "Since when have you been the Mafia's lap dog?"

"since they offered me a reprieve. I bring you to them, I'm home free."

He approached me, but he knew better not to get too close. He knew just how effective I was at disarming my opponets.

"So you gonna kill me?"

"It's only fair. you left me hanging on our last job."

I dropped my hands knowing that if he was going to do it, he'd have done it already.

He had plenty of reasons to want me dead.

Bradly lowered the gun. "I only said it was fair, though, not what I had in mind. It seems you're worth more to Mafia alive than dead."

That was good news. It gave me time to think of a way out of this that didn't involve me dying or joining wasteland mafia.

"Then let's go. I'd hate to keep my guests waiting."

And with Bradly behind me with a gun at my back, I made my way back onto the street, desperately trying to think of a way out of this.

No pressure.

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 7, the chase

Chapter 7.

Into the lions den.

We walked on through the ruined streets in a bitter silence. In truth, bradly did have a good reason to hate me. Our last job didn't go so well. It was my idea to accept it and it ended with a steel chair to my face, an angry nun with a shotgun, and an entire building burning to the ground. With us inside. I managed to escape, but only by abandoning my partner, bradly. Not one of my most heroic moments, but, then again, where karma is concerned, bradly is more bankrupt than I am.

"So," I asked as I stumbled over a chair in the middle of the road. "What does mafia want with me?"

"How should I know? I'm still trying to figure out why they'd want a wuss lke you."

"Wuss?" I repeated in mock offense. "would a wuss come into a city controled by the people who want him dead?"

"Well, a crazy wuss, but a wuss none the less."

I was about to tell him off, when we arrived at a large, dilapidated building. On the front side was a large banner, sporting the wasteland mafia insignia.

"This is it?" I asked.

"In." Bradly said as he shoved me through the door.

I took a deep breath and entered the building.

My time was running out.

.

"Welcome, carter flayde." Came a booming, familiar voice, as I entered a crowded room. There were at least thirty people in gee, ask armed, all ready to kill me. "Welcome to mafia headquaters."

"Jackson." I said suddenly bold. "I love what you've done with the place. I see you got rid of the shrunken heads."

"Funny. Very funny. Never mind the fact that you're in a building filled with people who would very much like to see you dead."

I looked around the room as though I'd just noticed the room full of armed, glaring men and women. One woman stuck out in particular, a tall, thin woman. She was glaring at me like I was a disgusting insect invading her home.

I turned to a specific guy in the corner of the room, with a scar across his neck. "Hey Jeremy." I said. He growled and slapped his gun.

"Enough," Jackson said as he stepped out of the shadows. He was a tall, muscular man, with scars down his arms and an EBR strapped across his back. "You know what you're here for." He approached me slowly, ominously. "You either join us our we kill you right here right now."

It was about this time that I started getting nervous. He'd already thrown it out there: join us or die. And I didn't even have a plan yet.

Until I saw the bright flash of a rifle scope in the window of a bombed out building across the street.

Suddenly, I knew what I had to do.

"Gee, that's a tempting offer, but I'm gonna go with c, none of the above."

"There are only two options 's no way you can refuse us without dying."

I laughed, trying to buy some time. "Jackson, come on. How many times have I escaped you? I'm pretty sure I can get out of this one."

"So sure, are you. Look around you. You're alone in enemy territory. You really think you're gonna get out of this?"

I saw the flash again.

I sighed as though accepting the inevitable. "Well there is no way I'm going against my nature. I'm a lone wolf, and I intend to stay that way."

I knew there was only one shot at this, and my timing would have to be perfect.

"Are you sure? A pretty major price to pay to keep out of a gang." I remained silent. I needed to be focused for this to work. "Ok then."He leveled his revolver at my head. "Nothing personal, flayde. Just can't have any loose cannons."

Another flash from the window. Now or never. I rolled to the right as the window behind Jackson shattered. An explosion of blood ruptured from Jackson's left shoulder, as I brought my fist up into the chin of the guard to my right. Another blast of sniper fire took out another guard across the room. I couldn't see Jackson anywhere, and it was chaos all around me. I took cover behind a large desk as EBR fire erupted behind me. I got to cover just in time. Unfortunately a guard had the the same idea as me, as he attempted to avoid the sniper fire. As he me, he brought up a shotgun, about to fire. His head exploded in a shower of blood. After I recovered from the initial shock, I picked up the shotgun, aimed down the sight, and blasted, taking off another guards arm.

Suddenly, a loud report of automatic fire sounded from outside and a guard stumbled in from outside, bleeding from the stump that was his arm.

I looked outside the nearby window and saw Billy's old truck, a mounted machine gun in the back. Johnny was busy blasting away at the guards as they retreated inside. I knew I had to get to the truck. I took a breath to steady my nerves, then made a break for it.

I flinched as several shots went past, barely missing my head. Christine was yelling,urging me to hurry. Finally I made it to the truck and dove into the bed.

"He's in!" Johnny called.

"Hang on." Christine urged as she floored it.

Within minutes we had put the mafia headquarters miles behind us.

"You okay?" Came Tom's voice from the front passenger seat.

"Yeah thanks." I said, catching my breath. "How'd you guys find me?"

"Johnny has connections in the wasteland mafia." Christine replied. "Once we realized you were taken by the mafia, we immediately organized a rescue party. We had Dominick in the building across the street sniping. We going to go pick him up. Climb up into the cab. Don't need you out in the open."

"Guys!" Johnny called. We got company."

The loud roar of motorcycles came from behind us as several bikes sped into the alley, expertly avoiding the debris scattered all over the concrete.

"Great" Christine muttered. "Carter, take this EBR. Let's see if we can't outrun the mafia."

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8, the chase

Chapter 8

the chase

I ducked as bullets blasted past, shattering the wind shield.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" I yelled.

"Just keep 'em of us!" Christine shouted, turning a sharp right.

I sighed in exasperation as I leveled my EBR poking my head out of the passenger window. I squeezed the trigger, and the front wheel of the lead bike exploded causing the bike to flip end over end.

I quickly ducked back inside the cab as more shots whizzed by. I looked at Johnny as his mg roared, spitting bullets at the oncoming bikes.

"Woo! Yeah!" He called as bikers fell off their rides, limbs missing, and blood pouring into the streets.

"Yeah, Johnny!" I yelled. "Kick some ass!"

Johnny growled as he let off another round of gunfire.

"Shit!" Christine yelled. I turned just in time to see an armored jeep come screeching towards us, head on. Christine jerked the wheel to the left, sending us careening into a side alley.

I looked back as the jeep turned into the alley, hot on our tail.

"Christine, it's gaining on us!" Johnny called as he blasted away at it's armor.

I felt a jolt as the jeep bumped us, hard, from behind. Johnny was shoved against the mg. He gasped as he fell to the floor, and two gunners rose from a hatch in the roof of the jeep. They raised their guns and blasted, blood exploding from Johnnys shoulder and gut.

"Damn it!" I yelled as I opened fire taking out one gunner, and forcing the other to retreat.

"Hang on!" Christine made a sharp right out of the alley as the jeep barreled past, unable to make the insane turn.

I carefully pulled Johnny in.

"How is he?" Christine asked as I ripped open his shirt.

"Oh, damn." Tom muttered as he saw Johnnys wounds.

Johnny's entire arm was ripped apart, chunks of flesh barely hanging on. I'd seen wounds like this before and this wasn't what concerned me. Hesitantly, I lowered my gaze to the guys stomach.

It was bad.

Very bad.

Part of his midsection had been blasted apart, his innards clearly visible, some hanging out. I could see several of the bullets, still lodged in him.

I'd seen wounds like this before, on people even younger than Johnny, and they almost never survived. for some reason this affected me in a way I couldn't explain. I didn't even like the kid. And here I was, holding him as his life slipped away, begging every god there was not to let this young boy die.

"Thomas, take the wheel." Christine ordered. "Carter, get on that gun. I'll take care of Johnny."

"Wait," I yelled, disbelief plain on my face. "Your gonna drive this thing, and stitch up Johnny?"

"She's not." Tommy responded. "I am."

And I watched in disbelief as Tommy leaned over Christine and took hold of the wheel as Christine turned around to begin working on Johnny, her foot still on the pedal.

"What are you sitting there gawking for?" Christine snapped. "Get on that gun!"

I climbed trough the shattered rear windshield and manned the gun, just as a whole pack of bikes came racing down the street. They opened fire, and I returned, unleashing a deadly barrage of revenge for Johnny. Several bikers fell under the onslaught, but the rest kept on coming, inching closer and closer. It soon became apparent that we were slowing down.

"Christine!" I called. "Faster!"

"I'm doing the best I can!" She grunted as the truck jerked to the left. "Just keep em of us!"

I turned around and opened fire again on the bikes, who were now much closer than they were before. Grateful for the bullet proof glass in front of me, I downed several more bikes, but I was unable to keep them from approaching the truck. Within minutes they had pulled up along the side of the truck and they began blasting at us. Before they could do any serious damage, Tommy slammed the truck into one bike and side swiped another. Both bikes went down and the others fell back.

"damnit, Tom, don't do that!" Christine chastised.

"I'm sorry," he retorted. "Do you want them to blow out our ties?"

We went on like this for several minutes until Christine finally put in the last stitch.

"Okay, done!" She said. "Give me the wheel."

"With pleasure."

Now that Christine wasn't busy with Johnny, we picked up some serious speed, and within minutes had left the bikes in the dust.

"I have to say, Christine, I'm impressed!" I called from my place at the gun. "I've never seen anything like that!"

"You liked that?" She replied. "That was nothing. Stick around, I can do better!"

"Man I hate doing that." Tommy complained. "Hurts my neck, leaning over like that."

We turned right, preparing to head to the gates when a large vehicle pulled out, blocking our path, and forcing Christine to slam the brakes.

The jeep had found us.

To be continued...


End file.
